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Zion

This was last week’s email. I’m going to try and get better at posting the day I receive her emails. –Lisette

Last night during a “practice teaching” excercise, I found myself constantly referring to Ether 12. And I’m sure your inner Seminary student went straight to verse six. Well, look up to verse four — it adds a layer of profundity to verse six. As I shared that scripture with an Elder in my district, he brought out the line “with hope for a better world.”

This week was rough. We have no older generation and no younger generation (don’t worry, they come in tomorrow). In some aspects of life, it’s been good for us as a generation to really bond and sort out our identity — what’s important to us and what is dross. In other aspects of life, it’s been no so hot. Every minute is now under intense scrutiny and unfortunately there’ve been only two things to find joy in:

1) the Doctrine of Christ. If you haven’t glanced at 2 Nephi 31 recently, do it. And then slide on over to the Pearl of Great Price. Han JieMei (a sister in my Zone, but not my district) spent a good 45 minutes in the Celestial room this morning expounding on the doctrine with each other. It was wonderfully spiritual and instructional — reminding me all at once of where I came from, where I’m going, and how I’m going to get there. There is nothing more important than your personal testimony of the reality of the Doctrine of Christ. It’s true. It’s real. And you can make it happen for yourself.

2) the personalities of the Elders in my district. They each possess unlimited potential and vast ammounts of divinity. Never does the fact that they are 19 year old boys enter their mind — they are missionaries, representatives of Jesus Christ, and they strive to emulate Him each moment of each day. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to be an imperfect person in a perfect system… but those struggles (if they motivate us to improve) come from God and can be for our eternal benefit. I know this now and so does our district. 😀

I do have to say (and heaven help him if he’s reading this) Mao Laoshi is everything an MTC teacher should be. He instructs, uplifts, chastens, motivates, elucidates… and I’m sure the list could go on if I hadn’t forgotten how to speak English. Last night, he asked us to share a spiritual experience we’d had that day. We were all silent. He asked, “Are you not at the MTC?” Without raising his voice, without muttering a word of correction, he set the environment for us to have that much needed spiritual experience. He invited the Holy Ghost into the room and set about teaching us how to listen to His promptings. It was beautiful to say the least. Here are some things I learned:

Strive to be an example of the believers by:
living according to God’s commandments
keeping the covenants made in the temple
knowing the Scriptures
being courteous
being on time
being dependable
following the missionary standards of dress, grooming, and conduct
loving the people you serve and work with
honoring Christ’s name through your actions
D&C 100: 12-17 (somewhat rearranged and paraphrased):

“Zion shall be redeemed although she is chastened for a little season. All things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly. For I will raise up a pure people that will serve me in righteousness.”

The question Mao Laoshi asked that made such revelatory learning possible was simple this: “What makes these things more than just words on a page?”

Ask yourself that the next time you read your scriptures, your Patriarchal Blessing, or even your Relief Society/Priesthood Manual. I’d love to hear your answers. 😀

Thank you for your prayers and support. I love you all and couldn’t make it through a single day with out your help.